Revolution: Ranger
by Iced Perfection
Summary: Called to the Sinnoh region to investigate the famous Poketopia resort center, she has only one objective: to win. At first, it's just a game. Now...lives are on the line, and her decisions will affect the future of the regions to come. R&R?
1. New Assignments

(23/11/07)

I haven't written a Pokemon fanfiction in a while. Nostalgia took over me and I started playing _Ranger_ again, and I've always wanted to be a Ranger. w Er…I mean, I've always wanted a _character_ that is a Ranger. ;;

On with the show.

Speaking of shows, I haven't watched the D/P anime yet, so if people seem…a bit out of character, I'm sorry. vv

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. Well, I own like, half the games, but not the actual company. TT

PS: It's a weird intro, but bear with it. I couldn't think of a better way to start it.

Icy

* * *

"You…are…an…idiot," I typed, still wondering how I had taken so quickly to typing on the numbered keypad on the capture styler. Before he had started messaging me, I'd never bothered to use it. I smiled, knowing almost exactly what his response would be. 

"No one asked you."

Laughing, I shut the green and blue device, shoving it into the pouch around my waist along with my other things. "Hiro…you don't know how to be a Ranger. I don't know why you're our leader, anyway," I said aloud, knowing very well that he would not be able to hear me.

"Hey! Gen!"

"I told you guys not to call me that," I said coolly, turning to see who it was. I found Maya coming to a halt just in front of me, breathing heavily from the run from the base.

"Well, the leader has two things for me to tell you," she said, holding up a finger. "One, don't use the styler's text messaging for insulting people. Two, he has a mission for you that he needs to tell you in person. In other words, he wants you back at the base."

I sighed. "Fine." Starting the long walk back, I heard my styler ring, though ignored it. I knew it wasn't worth it. Above me, there was the sound of the wind blowing, signaling the approach of my partner, Skarmory. Instead of landing, however, she continued on to the base, landing on the roof. It turned to me, seemingly taunting, and, even though she was far away, I could feel that she was telling me to hurry. I broke into a sprint, the other Ranger, exhausted from the run to find me, quickly falling behind.

Inside the base, I found relief from the warm summer air, the fans blasting cooled air in my face as I entered. "You called?" I said, my voice unintentionally slightly sarcastic and annoyed.

"Yeah, I called. You didn't pick up the second time though," Hiro said, stepping out from behind his desk.

"Sorry," I said, rolling my eyes. He sighed.

"Gen, this is serious."

"I'll take it serious if you can call me by my real name, not some nickname you decided on." I shot him a glare.

"Well, it's already caught on. You'll have to live with it."

"My name is _Genesis_." I crossed my arms across my chest, still glaring.

"Fine,_Genesis_. You have a mission as of now. I've been receiving reports from the Sinnoh region, and they need your help."

My eyes immediately lit up. "Sinnoh?" I asked excitedly. My perky demeanor, however, quickly faded as I came back to earth. "What's the catch?"

"Have you heard of Poketopia?"

I nodded. "That fancy vacation place where all people do is battle?"

"That's the one." Hiro sat back down at his desk, motioning for me to sit opposite him in a chair. "Apparently there's been trouble there."

"What kind of trouble?"

"If you'd let me finish, I could tell you."

I rolled my eyes again, but remained silent.

"There are always reports of cheating, and those people are caught, but this time there seems to be something bigger going on, and nobody knows what. Something's not right down in Poketopia, and some of the Leaders in Sinnoh feel that there is corruption in the works of the company that runs it. Thing is, it's affecting all of the regions, not just Sinnoh. Productions of other coliseum-like battle areas are in their construction phases, and they're worried about what is going to happen. They wanted a Ranger for the job."

"Why, exactly? Why not send a trainer in?" I sat back in the chair, glancing around the room in pretend disinterest.

"Trainers don't think like Rangers do. They focus solely on battling, while Rangers have to remember what their goal is."

"To protect pokemon and serve the community, I know, I know."

Hiro nodded. "Seeing as you're such a prime example of a good Ranger, we've nominated you to go check out Poketopia."

I bolted upright in my chair. "What?" I said, shocked. I wondered if I'd heard wrong. "But…_why?!_" I was only a level six Ranger—there were plenty of better-qualified ones out there in the other towns…So why did they pick _me_?

He smiled, apparently knowing this would be my reaction. "Gen—"

"Get it right!"

"Genesis," he said, sarcasm as much as mine had been earlier, "I really need you to do this." He stood up, motioning me toward the elevator that took us to the roof of the building. Outside, I headed toward Skarmory, who was standing perfectly still on the landing circle, as if waiting for me.

"Skarmory will take you to Sinnoh, where you'll meet Gym Leaders—all from the regions that are being affected, and all of whom are worried about this matter. They will lend you pokemon for the challenges."

"Challenges?" I froze in the middle of climbing onto Skarmory's steely back.

"You'll be participating in the games, Gen." He winked at me when I had finally clambered onto the pokemon, a panicky look filling my eyes. "Don't worry. You'll be fine."

"But—I don't know how to battle!" I cried. "I'm a Ranger, not a Trainer! I'm not fit for this!"

But Skarmory had already taken off, with me clutching fearfully to its back. Not out of fear of heights, but what was to come. In the sky, I felt the temperature drop, rain soon beginning to fall in light droplets that covered my jacket. I pulled off my glasses, tucking them in the case in my pouch and pulling out the goggles that I had gotten made for this, prescription ones that rain rolled right off of. They protected my eyes from the dry air and allowed me a certain level of visibility.

After flying in the sky for a while, Skarmory began to lose altitude, heading toward a brightly-lit city that was nearly adjacent to the island where Poketopia was—I could tell it was there because its lights outshone the city's, which was considerably larger than the popular center.

Since there was no Ranger base for me to land on, I ended up coming down in front of the Pokemon Center, where there were a group of people who seemed to be waiting for someone.

"Are you Genesis?" one of them asked, a girl a bit older than me with light auburn hair.

I slid off Skarmory's smooth back. "Yes. Are you the Gym Leaders that I'm supposed to meet?"

"Gardenia," the girl said, holding out her hand for me to shake. I took it, removing my goggles after and shaking my hair out, droplets of water hitting the others.

"Sorry," I muttered, sliding my glasses on. "It's a bit damp up there."

"It's alright."

I looked at the group standing in front of me. I knew some of their faces as Gym Leaders in the Sinnoh league, but some were unfamiliar—probably from the other three regions I'd never been to.

"We were all sent a message to give you pokemon to use while conducting your investigation. There are nine Leaders in all from the Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Johto regions, each with one pokemon to give you. Kanto decided to sit this one out." Gardenia held out a capture disk. I looked at it, puzzled. How did she have one? She smiled. "I thought you might be confused. You're a Ranger, right? Hiro said we should use these instead. They allow you to communicate with the pokemon better, since you're just borrowing them. Got it?"

I nodded slowly, the pieces sliding into place. "I think so. But how am I supposed to tell what they are?"

"I have a Roselia," Gardenia said, handing me the disk, which I slid into the pouch on my belt. I was glad I hadn't brought any unnecessary items with me, since I'd need room for _nine_ disks. Plus Skarmory's.

"Wait, isn't there a rule about the number of pokemon you can use in a battle?" I said, holding up a hand. "Six, isn't it?"

"There aren't any rules in Poketopia regarding the number of pokemon you can take _with_ you. There are rules for battles, but nothing about having ten with you." Another girl spoke, this a girl I didn't know. "I'm Clair," she said, introducing herself by almost literally shoving the capture disk into my hand, the pointed bottom nearly scratching my skin through the gloves I wore.

"Dragonair," was her answer to my questioning expression.

"You'll be escorted to Poketopia by a couple of us, since it'd be odd for you to travel alone. Most people come in groups," Gardenia said as a girl with flaming red hair stepped forward to hand me her disk.

"Flannery. I got a special Ninetales for you. Just so you know." She smiled at me.

As the Leaders introduced themselves, I found myself remembering seeing some of them on TV, watching them battle as they faced a challenger. I remembered how thrilling it was, how excited I had been to see their pokemon as I imagined myself as a Trainer one day. That dream, however, had come crashing down when I realized the cruelty of battles after my sister began to teach me how to use pokemon "effectively."

I quickly learned their names, and their respective regions, each with a totally different pokemon.

From the Johto region, there were two, Clair and Morty. Clair had given me the Dragonair, Morty a Xatu.

Hoenn Leaders gave me a Lapras, Tropius, Kingdra, and Ninetales, from Brawly, Winona, Wallace, and Flannery, respectively.

And from Sinnoh—my favorite region—Gardenia's Roselia, Volkner's Luxray, and Roark's Gastrodon, the Eastern variety.

My pouch was rather difficult to close after I received the last disk, the extending strap the only thing saving it from being open and prone to losing its contents. I thanked all of the Leaders profusely, turning back to Gardenia, hoping she'd let me go now. I didn't do well with large crowds, and the fact that I didn't know any of them made it a bit awkward for me.

"Are…you going with me?" I asked her, glancing out over the water toward the glowing island outlined by the setting sun's rays.

Gardenia shook her head. "Nah. I've got a Gym to tend to."

"Doesn't everyone else?"

"Gardenia prefers…other activities to going out to do things like this," Roark said, laughing a bit.

"You mean like the Rotom incident?" Volkner added, smiling as well.

Gardenia turned slightly pink. "I wasn't scared!"

"Then why did you make those kids go in for you?"

"I have a Gym to run!" she said irritably. She turned away from us. "I need to leave. I'm sure there are people waiting for me."

With Gardenia gone, I had no one that I had talked to before then, and silence began to fill the air.

"Well, I'm not going. I'll be leaving as well." I had the feeling Clair didn't like me very well…and I'm not sure why. She disappeared in the same direction as Gardenia, looking back at me once with a slight glare.

"So…who's going with me, then?" I said, realizing after I said it that I had sounded impatient and rude.

"There's me, Winona, Volkner, and Flannery," Roark said, counting everyone off on his fingers. "That's four; five, including you."

I nodded. "How are we going to get over there?"

"We fly." It was Winona. She held up two pokeballs. "I've got a Swellow and my own Skarmory. We can double, and you can use your Skarmory. Just follow us."

I gave a slight nod, indicating my understanding. Climbing up on Skarmory's back, I saw the other Gym Leaders had also left the area. They had finished what had been requested of them. Now I had to do what I had been requested as well. I slid my goggles back on, realizing I shouldn't have removed them in the first place when I had arrived, knowing I would have to fly again.

In the air, I stayed close to Winona's Skarmory, making sure not to lose them in the clouds or in the rain's curtain-like waves that were now pouring down from the sky.

"Just my luck," I muttered, glad that our uniforms were waterproof, as the base was located in an area that got a lot of rain and was near a series of lakes and rivers. That didn't stop me from disliking the rain. It was the fact it rained so much that I didn't like, not the rain itself.

Taking a deep breath, I followed Winona in the descent to Poketopia's landing site, noting that many of the buildings were shaped like pokemon, which I hadn't noticed before. All…except one. It struck me as odd, seeing a single, simple building that was conspicuously placed between all of these pokemon. I shook my head, waving the matter out of my head. Right now, I had bigger things to worry about.


	2. Introductions

Sorry for the wait; I've been swamped with school. D: It's weird, though, that this is the only story I've managed to write more on...I'm...really wondering why.

* * *

"Welcome!" chirped the blond-haired girl behind the counter as the electronic doors slid open. A blast of cool air—similar to that of the base's greeting—surrounded me as I stepped inside. "Five?" She pulled out five sheets for us to fill out—registration.

"Don't give them your real name," Flannery whispered to me. I gave her a look. Why shouldn't I? It was then that I finally noticed that the others weren't in their usual Gym attire: I had seen them in magazines and knew their outfits. That's why I hadn't recognized them earlier—they were in completely different clothes than normal. Were they…in disguise? I held back a laugh. The thought of being undercover just made the whole thing seem funny to me. But it wasn't. Hiro wanted me to do this…and I was going to.

Picking up a pen from beside the counter, I began to fill out the form. I filled everything in except the name, wondering what I should put. I glanced up at the girl's nametag: Lily. I quickly jotted a name down, handing my form in along with the others'.

"So, it's Feng, Shou, Torin, Ailin, and…?" she looked up at me. Apparently my handwriting was getting bad since I never wrote anymore—the only things I wrote were text messages.

"Dusk?" I said uneasily, suddenly realizing how stupid it sounded. I knew it would sound like a made-up name to her—

Instead, the girl smiled. "Welcome to Poketopia." Handing us our badges, she directed us down a rather lengthy hallway to a set of rooms where we could put our things—apparently we'd be staying for a few days.

"Challenges can run anywhere from minutes to hours—it's best to just stay a while to make sure we don't miss anything," Flannery said, throwing her bag down on one of the beds in the girls' room. There were three beds—one for each of us, but I had realized that I hadn't brought anything to wear. Flannery, however, smiled. "Relax." She pulled out a bag from inside her own, tossing it to me.

"We thought you might need some clothes, since we kinda called you last-minute," Winona said, removing her helmet and shaking out her long, purple hair. She combed her fingers through it, bangs curling around her fingers before straightening, somewhat. "You probably wouldn't be recognized by anyone in this region, but you never know. We want to be safe—change into something else before we leave."

I looked down at my clothes—my comfortable, worn ranger outfit. I wanted to keep it on—maybe I could wear it under something? Inside the bag were various outfits, some of red colors—from Flannery—and some purple and blue—Winona's. I pulled on a deep, burnt-orange vest over my black ranger suit, sliding on some sky-blue jeans as well, keeping my own boots for comfort. My belt fit snugly in the loops around the pants, pouch resting comfortably on my hip. My styler—I probably wouldn't need it, but didn't want to take a chance—went in a pocket that was hidden inside the jacket.

"How _do_ you control the pokemon using those disks?" Flannery asked, breaking the silence as I clipped my hair up to keep it out of my face. I smiled, pulling out what looked like two neon-blue, glowing beads from my pocket.

"These." I rolled them between my fingers, their glow extending as they elongated in my grip, becoming wand-like objects with small knobs on one end that resembled the original bead.

"What do those do?"

"They allow me to control the pokemon by using waves that simulate the kind you get with a styler." When both girls gave me confused looks, I tossed one into my other hand. A lighter glow trailed behind it for a moment before disappearing. "You've seen this kind of glow before, right? It's like you see when a Ranger captures a pokemon. I use these to do the same thing, but it's less conspicuous and easier than a styler. They're more long-distance than the others are." They shrunk back to their original sizes and I put them back where I had gotten them.

"They're like the antenna-like wand that comes out of a styler," I said, demonstrating with my own. They nodded, finally understanding.

"Like a conductor's baton?" Flannery asked. "You're controlling—no, _coordinating_, the pokemon's movements."

"Exactly." I smiled, glad that at least these two could understand me.

A knock came at the door. "You ready in there?" Roark and Volkner had apparently already settled in across the hall and were ready to start the challenges. I shivered, remembering that it had been ages since I had battled last.

"What kinds of battles are we entering?" Flannery asked, standing up from the chair she had just gotten comfortable in.

"We want to cover all the arenas we can, so, ideally, we'd all be battling single, but some require partners." Volkner turned to me. "I think that Genesis here should go with me since she's not quite…up to our level."

I turned slightly pink, though knew it was the truth. I didn't mind, though; I'd have someone to fall back on.

Wait, no.

Not fall back on.

Support me.

I needed someone to help me—help me find my way in a place that I had no desire to be in at the moment.

"Sure," I muttered, joining the two in the hall. Flannery and Winona followed, all of us heading toward the elevator that would take us to the lobby where we could take the ferry across the bay.

Outside, I noticed it had grown darker in the short time that we had been inside. The lights seemed to be more intense than before, pulsing a steady rhythm as battles commenced all around the island. I shivered again, realizing that I would soon be one of those figures shadowed by the blinding lights, commanding my borrowed pokemon to listen to me.

Asking, more like.

The ferry was shaped like a Wailord…I'd seen it before. Not very interesting, in my opinion. They're so over-done.

Anyway.

It was a fairly quick ride, but I found enough time to grab a drink before we docked. Something to calm my nerves. As I swallowed, I suddenly remembered why no one had let me drink things like this before…

"Hey, Dusk, we want to be the first off this boat! C'mon!"

"Sure, Flan—er, Feng." The others had already started calling each other by their fake names—and me as well. I sighed, tossing my now-empty can and following her above deck. There, we watched the battles continue atop the rather high towers above the island. I watched, mesmerized, as these creatures battled against each other, matched in both speed and power, as well as grace. It was almost like a dance, of sorts, the way they moved: Their actions were planned in advance, almost like a game. They never missed a beat, constantly moving until one of them lost it and was thrown into the way of the attack, ultimately costing both itself and its owner pride.

At the arena registration desk, there were posters advertising the different arenas: Gateway, Main Street, Waterfall, Neon, Crystal, Sunnypark, Magma, Sunset, Courtyard, Stargazer…

I didn't know which to pick—I'd never been anywhere outside my town before. I turned to Volkner for help, but he, too, seemed to be debating about which to go to.

"The Gateway and Main Street arenas look like they'd be better for beginning, but…"

"I've battled before; I just haven't done it in a while," I said, regretting later that I sounded a bit irritated.

Volkner gave a small smile, turning back to the posters, then, spotting a map, pointed to one location. "Why don't we go to the Main Street one first? It's the closest, as far as I can tell, and doesn't have any tricky rules attached to it."

"Tricky rules?" I repeated, unsure of what he meant; it made me sort of uneasy, the way he said it.

"Yeah—Neon Coliseum, especially; it's a nightmare, what with the roulette deciding which pokemon you use…"

"So the one you use isn't up to you?" I asked nervously.

"That, and you could end up with your opponent's pokemon, too, and vise-versa. They could be using your own pokemon against you in the end."

I swallowed. Hard.

"Relax," Volkner said, clapping a hand on my shoulder, which didn't do much to calm my fired-up nerves. "We aren't going to Neon Coliseum any time soon. I promise."

That…still didn't help.

"What are the rules for Main Street?" I asked.

"Nothing special—you just have to defeat your opponent. Period. End of story."

I sighed a sigh of relief—I guess I really didn't have anything to worry about.

"Ohmigod—Genesis?!"

I cringed. I knew that voice. I didn't _want_ to know it, but I did. I turned around and put on a smile that wouldn't even convince myself I was smiling, but it would be enough to fool _her_…

Chel.

My worst nightmare and old neighbor-slash-classmate-slash-sort-of-friend.

I shuddered as she bounded toward me, bracing myself for the worst.

"Genesis! It's Chel! You know, we used to live next to each other! How have you been? It's been _ages_ since I've seen you! You've gotten so tall! Almost as tall as me!" She smiled, oblivious to my own forced one. She threw her arms around me, pulling me into a near-choking hug.

"C-chel…!" I managed through gritted teeth. (Still smiling.) "Why are you calling me….Genesis? I'm Dusk, you know."

"Dusk?" she replied, a look of confusion crossing her face. (It wasn't new to me, but…still.) "But…you're Genesis, right?"

"….No, I'm Dusk," I repeated. (Maybe if I said it enough she would get it through her head…) "_Dusk._"

Still confused, she released me. "You're not…Genesis?" She backed up a step.

"No, she's not. I think she's said several times that her name is Dusk." Volkner finally stepped in, giving me an odd look as well as a rather irritated one to Chel.

"I….Okay…this is just, like, too weird…" Chel said, muttering to herself as she wandered off down the hall toward a lift. She gave me one last look over her shoulder before the doors closed, an almost hurt expression on her face.

I sighed. "Leave it to Chel to find me in a place like this."

"You actually know her?" Volkner asked, slightly surprised, as he headed toward the lifts.

"Yeah…it's a long story, though."

"We've got time while the lift takes us down. Why don't you re-live some of your past, hmm?" he said, smiling again, slightly, pushing the down arrow that would bring the lift to our floor.

"If you insist," I said, giving up on avoiding the subject any longer. I just hoped that I wouldn't run into her after this, but…it's Chel. I was pretty sure I would see her again, though I had no idea that when I did, it would be like _that._


End file.
